Sesshoumaru's Seven
by Lcsaf
Summary: Unabashed jewel thief, Inu-Yasha, will do *ANYTHING* to steal the fabled Shikon no Tama...even if it means working with his brother's assembled team of amateurs.
1. Default Chapter

Disclaimer: Let's make this easy. If you recognize anyone/place/thing in this little piece of fantasy, you can bet I don't own it.

A/N: However, I will be SERIOUSLY pissed off if someone tries to steal my work.

* * *

The sun beat down on the earth as Nevada State Penitentiary released a single inhabitant that afternoon.

A young man of twenty-five with highly unusual hip length hair the colour of onyx stood inside the main entrance, waiting to collect his former possessions. He was handed a small brown envelope and his stormy coloured eyes revealed no emotion as he poured out a pair of cufflinks and fastened them in his sleeves. Tiger-eyes set in gold. The black silk tie on the table next to him was stuffed into a pants pocket and the matching dinner jacket hooked on one finger and was slung over a shoulder as he stepped out of the only place he had resided for the last three years.

There was no one waiting for him in the parking lot as he emerged from the main building. Not that he was expecting anyone. The only person who knew of is release was _at_ _least _one thousand miles away and probably didn't give a damn if he rotted in prison or not.

Ringing warning bells and the rattling of moving chain fences echoed throughout the area as the gates were opened before the young man.

He nodded is goodbye to the gate guard as he stepped outside the fences while pulling a cigarette from behind his ear and stuck it in his mouth. He reached into a jacket pocket and pulled out a lighter, quickly lighting the tobacco stick, and returning the lighter back to the pocket. The young man took a deep drag the first smoke of his freedom fag, which had been a goodbye gift of sorts from one of the inmates there.

Lips pulled finally pulled back in a heart-melting grin, revealing unusually sharp canines and a dangerous glint came into the eyes. A chuckle turned into a disturbing laugh as the man took one last glance at the monitored walls. Turning left, he started headed towards town. There was nothing left for him back on the East Coast, it was time to head west.

**Downtown Los Angeles**

On the corner where Fifth met Flower sat the Café Pinot, one of the more metropolitan restaurants of the city. That gorgeous sunny afternoon, the café was playing host to a distinguished looking gentleman sat out on the patio.

He appeared to be both young and old at the same time, speculation of age ranging up and down the 30's scale. It must have been his looks that threw off the guess, as his features fell into the slightly exotic category. Lustrous silver hair was left free to hang to his posterior and the grey suit that he wore emphasized his creamy skin. Silver half moon spectacles framed sharp golden eyes. Said eyes were glued to the gentleman's copy of the Wall Street Journal and did not even bother to glance up when the table gained another occupant.

"You're late."

These words were spoken to a younger man similar in appearance; smoky grey and slightly damp hair was tied in a very low tail halfway down the young man's back. And amber eyes flashed in annoyance to match the scowl.

"It's not my fault. First there's an accident on Olive and I had to reroute and then the assholes up front accost me on my way in."

The first man finally brought his gaze from the paper to his companion for a once over.

Long sleeve white button up: top button undone and shirttails un-tucked, sleeves rolled back to elbows. Khaki pants: too baggy, too low, too many pockets. Burkenstock sandals on the feet and ridiculous yellow tinted rectangle glasses perched on top of the head.

"I can't imagine why," the first man answered sarcastically as he folded up his paper, thankful that the young man before him had at least stopped dyeing his hair.

"Fuck you," the second one snapped. He reached into his breast pocket to pull out a pack of cigarettes and took on in his mouth. "'Least I'm here," he mumbled as he lit the fag.

"I thought you quit that disgusting habit."

"I though you didn't give a shit what I did."

The waiter approached to take their drink orders and the younger man ordered a full bottle of the most expensive red wine on the list, and a beer. Courtesy of his companion's wallet, of course.

"Three years of prison and you're still petty as ever, I see," the first man remarked.

"Fuck off."

The gentleman rolled his eyes and ordered a glass of white. Once the waiter disappeared, the gentleman leaned back in his chair and questioned his companion on his plans for the immediate future.

"I've got some stuff lined up…."

"I take it then, that your extended time in Nevada hasn't changed your mind. Might I remind you that this decision is the REASON you were in prison?"

"It's not like that! This is the last time and then I quit the business…. for real this time."

"You're still after the Shikon, then."

"Yeah."

"You know you aren't going to get it."

Amber eyes narrowed in disbelief. "What're you talking about?"

"As of now, it is owned and guarded by one of one of the more powerful businessmen in America. This thing has more protection than London's jewels. Not even** you **can get to it. Not on your own, anyway."

The gentleman withdrew a stack of plain manila folders from the briefcase beside his chair and casually tossed them on the table. They landed with a satisfying thwack. The younger man cast a suspicious glare at his table companion before regarding the folders before him in the same manner. Slowly, he grounded out his cigarette in the ashtray before reaching for the folders.

"… the hell are these?"

"Files, reports--the information I've gathered on it."

The younger man carefully slid the files closer to his side of the table. "You've been keeping tabs? Why?" he asked as he flipped through them.

"I've my own reasons," the first replied.

The waiter came by with the drinks and made a show of opening the wine. The younger man rolled his eyes behind his bottle of beer. Once he left, the older man placed another folder in the middle of the table and slid it slightly forward.

Taking the bait, the second opened it and glanced through it. "Who are they?" confusion laced his tone.

"My team," the first responded. "Best of the best; they can be under your command."

"Don't joke. You know I work alone."

"Then you will not win. You will either work with my team and I, or you will work against me. And I do not plan to lose."

"You asshole!" The second one seethed between clenched teeth. "I'll-!"

"Your petty attempts to threaten me will not work."

"What the hell do you want?" the younger man growled.

"I should think it is obvious what I want."

"**Why?**"

The gentleman lightly crossed his fingers in front of himself. "I've been interested in it for some time. I'd like to add it to my collection. In time, if the price is right, I may sell it."

The second man nearly choked. "You're shittin' me, right? You want the jewel for your fucking _museum_! And you think I'M petty? Fuck."

"At least I am not the one chasing after fairy-tales," the older man coolly tossed back.

"Fuck. You." The younger man ground out, slamming both hands on the tabletop, startling the drinks. "And fuck this." He rose from his seat and made to leave. "I didn't come all this way just to get degraded."

"This is your only chance, Inu-Yasha," the first man called to the retreating form. "I won't offer again."

Inu-Yasha's shoulders visibly sagged as he stopped and put his hands in his pockets. "Why?" he reiterated in a tired tone. "Tell me why you're doing this."

"Do I need to repeat myself?" the first answered boredly. "My team is only the best of the best. But even the best team can only be good unless they have the best leader. The fact is, I do not know how to pull off a perfect…. burglary."

"Heist," Inu-Yasha corrected automatically.

The first man frowned, but continued. "Loathe as I am to admit it, I am in need of your expertise."

The young man slowly turned to the gentleman still seated at the table. "What makes you think I'm the 'best of the best'?"

"Really," the older man drawled. "You are the offspring of our father. I would expect nothing less from you."

Inu-Yasha mulled this over for a moment. "True," he agreed. "But what makes you think I'm just going to help you pull this thing off and then fork over the jewel? You know I want it."

"I do, and I also know that I am going to make you a deal that you can't refuse." The older gentleman gestured to the chair that Inu-Yasha had vacated.

"I'm listening…."

The first man waited until his partner was situated again before speaking. "I am willing to let you have the jewel for forty-eight hours. Do whatever you wish with it. After that, I am willing to buy it from you."

"Assuming this thing is still in existence, how many zeroes are we talking about?"

"Five. The number in front of those zeroes is negotiable."

Inu-Yasha took a swig of his beer and took a second look at the folder of bios. "You'll need a better team," he pointed out.

"We have a deal, then."

Inu-Yasha smirked. "Yeah, Sessh, we got a deal," he agreed, clinking the beer bottle against Sesshoumaru's glass of white wine.

* * *

Kudos to those who understood who the first person was. Even my beta was confused. 


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: Inu-Yasha's the thief, not me. Takahashi-sama owns all recognizable characters. Ocean's Eleven is owned by WarnerBros. and all that rot. And I guess Uncle Sam's country is owned by the good tax-paying citizens of America. _The Lion King_ is owned by those who hold the Mouse Ears.

A/N: Yes, Inu-Yasha was the guy who had dark hair in the beginning. He dyed it. Yes, this story was up once before; it needed to be fixed. **Also**, the Tang Dynasty horses have been mentioned in a few Inu-Yasha fics I've come across--if anyone knows the original creditor, _please let me know_.

* * *

_"Assuming this thing is still in existence, how many zeroes are we talking about?"_

_"Five. The number in front of those zeroes is negotiable."_

_Inu-Yasha took a swig of his beer and took a second look at the folder of bios. "You'll need a better team," he pointed out._

_"We have a deal, then."_

_Inu-Yasha smirked. "Yeah, Sessh, we got a deal," he agreed, clinking the beer bottle against Sesshoumaru's glass of white wine.

* * *

_

The next hour Sesshoumaru and Inu-Yasha spent together did not go to waste. After ordering dinner, the two set to work on reconfiguring the contents of both of Sesshoumaru's folders.

Inu-Yasha took a pull from his Bud and went over the personal files. "Nope," he began as he crumpled the first info sheet. The next three sheets followed the same treatment for being "unreliable", "backstabbing" and "too suspicious."

"What exactly are you doing?" Sesshoumaru asked.

"Eliminating bad prospects," Inu-Yasha explained. He sat back with his beer bottle in hand and watched the traffic flow around the intersection the café was situated on. "Just because somebody's good doesn't mean they're the guy for the job." He took another drink and indicated to the folder in front of him. "You don't need half these people," he continued. "A good group doesn't take that many." After a moment of scanning the remaining files, Inu-Yasha picked up an interesting looking sheet to study it further.

"Who's he?" he asked as he waved the bio in his brother's face.

Sesshoumaru barely spared a glance over his spectacles at the sheet before returning his attention to the list of requirements Inu-Yasha had given him. "That would be Dr. Miroku Priest," he answered. "He is a professor in the Chemistry and Physics department at a private university in southwestern Utah."

"Huh. Kind of a nowhere place to be," Inu-Yasha noted as he read the biostats. "I've never heard of this place."

"Not surprising," said Sesshoumaru. "Dr. Priest seems to prefer it that way. His job at the university funds his personal experiments in explosive reactions."

"I'll bet the academy's in the dark about the whole thing too. Fifty acres of family land? Whatcha wanna bet he's doing his experiments somewhere on his own property? I'll bet no-one even knows about it." Inu-Yasha placed the file back in the folder face down. "So we got a science geek as our demolition expert. Great. Who's next?"

Sesshoumaru discreetly rolled his eyes and made a few more notations in his palm pilot.

"Awww, lookit, Sessh, you're an equal opportunity employer," Inu-Yasha cooed, his words dripping with sarcasm.

Sesshoumaru fixed the younger man with flattest glare imaginable. "You must be referring to Miss Kanda," he surmised.

"And here I was thinking the only thing you were indiscriminate about was your hate for the rest of the world." Inu-Yasha raised his bottle in mock toast and finished its contents. "So, you're saying a chick's got the cyber hacking skills you need?"

"I doubt very much that you will find Miss Kanda to be another female--"

"Whoa! A chick with g--"

"Finish that sentence and I shall be forced to kill you in public," Sesshoumaru inserted calmly. "In fact, we should not be looking at these files out in the open like this. After dinner we will convene to my study."

"Whatever," the younger man sighed. "I'm done with these anyways." He returned the now thinner folder to his half brother.

Sesshoumaru raised an eyebrow. "There were three more names in there."

Inu-Yasha slumped for a moment; then straightened up and opened the folder again to take the remaining sheets out. "Sucks, sucks, and** him** I don't like," he announced as he flipped through the files. Four rips later, the papers were in sixteenths and Inu-Yasha deposited them in the ashtray and sprinkled some of the Napa Cabernet on them before dropping a lit match to set them aflame. "There. Beautiful," he pronounced, ignoring the stares the table received from other diners and passing pedestrians alike.

And if the waiter thought it odd that there was small bonfire in the ashtray as he brought dinner to the table, he gave no indication. L.A. was full of eccentric people.

The ride back to Sesshoumaru's grand house was somewhat quiet, though tension had nothing to do with it. Sesshoumaru sat on one side of the large luxury car's grey leather backseat and quietly made a few calls. He was torn between completely ignoring his younger half-brother in favour of conducting business and keeping an eye on him. Not that there was anything to watch, really. Inu-Yasha had immediately immersed himself in the joys of the car's mini-bar and the small colour tv that came with cable and a remote. He appeared, for all purposes, to be amusing himself by rapid channel surfing and making faces at the infomercials and shopping networks.

The house was situated north of the city, 45 minutes away from the downtown area, with hardly any neighbours. It was positioned at the end of a large cul de sac and guarded against outsiders with a brick wall all the way around the front of the property and a black wrought iron gate which pulled back to allow them entrance. The house proper, though still far away was visible at the top of a small hill, made with impressive mountain stone. The steep gables and traditional Tudor windows visible from the face of the house only added to the majesty of the building.

Inu-Yasha whistled. "Nice place. Who'd ya blackmail?"

"Not all of us make it our entire goal in life to stay on the wrong side of the law," Sesshoumaru retorted absently. He shuffled through some of his papers and began putting them back in his briefcase as the car made its way up the drive. Inu-Yasha surveyed the small portion of land he could view from the car window. The grass was ridiculously green and trimmed very short. The entire area around the house was flat and free of any apparent sinkholes or other unsightly flaws of a typical lawn. Halfway up the drive the uniformed rows of Bradford Pears lined the remaining path.

The car stopped in front of the house and the brothers exited the car on their respective sides. Inu-Yasha let himself be drawn by the koi swimming in the fountain before joining his brother on the other side of the car. The front door was thrown open and a short ugly little man with a greenish pallor waddled to the car. "Master Sesshoumaru, you're home!" he cried as the brothers stepped out of the car.

"Ugh," Inu-Yasha groaned.

"You!" the ugly little man cried.

"Jaken, you remember my half-brother, Inu-Yasha," Sesshoumaru said.

"Yes, your father's second son." Jaken favoured the younger brother with a particularly creepy glare.

"We will be in the study; we are not to be disturbed," Sesshoumaru ordered as he led the way into the house.

"I understand, Master Sesshoumaru," Jaken said.

"That little freak's still hanging around?" Inu-Yasha asked after they were out of earshot. He took a moment to glance around the large narthex as they crossed the room. The decor was very much his brother's taste: Spartan, dark and tasteful.

The walls reflected the same shade of stone green as the actual stone floor. A set of stone steps curved to follow the right wall's contour and adjoined to the landing of the second floor. There was no furniture in the room save for the free standing coat rack and umbrella stand by the front door and the large pedestal table set in the centre of the room. It held only an aged black horse from the Tang dynasty of China and a red table runner. Briefly, Inu-Yasha thought of his own horse, cream coloured and cracked, sitting on a shelf in his storage unit. It had been a gift from their father to his late mother that had passed to him after she died.

Large maroon velvet curtains were open to allow the setting sun to cast its dying rays through the two picturesque Tudor windows. Between that and the electric chandelier that hung above, the dim light through a soft relief through the otherwise dark room.

"Jaken is very loyal to me," Sesshoumaru told Inu-Yasha

"He's loyal because he's obsessed with you. He has some sort of sick and twisted crush on you."

Inu-Yasha caught his half-brother's rare but noticeable grimace. Sesshoumaru knew it too.

Sesshoumaru opened a door near the bottom of the stairs to reveal his study. It was a cozier room done in light browns and reds and soft carpeting, giving the impression of a warmer room compared to the dark narthex. "Have a seat, Inu-Yasha," he said as he opened his briefcase and emptied its contents on his desk.

Inu-Yasha, however, made a beeline for the small beverage cart in the corner and poured himself a generous shot of Green Spot whiskey.

"Yes, help yourself," Sesshoumaru muttered.

If Inu-Yasha heard him, he pretended not to notice. He grabbed the winged back chair near the cart and hauled it over to his brother's station without spilling anything.

"You said you could help me improve my team," Sesshoumaru began without preamble. "You've got names then?"

"I might," Inu-Yasha agreed after taking a sip and studying his drink. He set it on the coaster at the edge of the desk and looked at his only sibling. "It depends on the type of job you're looking to do."

"Type of job," Sesshoumaru echoed monotonously.

"Yeah. Believe it or not, there is a right and wrong way to go about a heist."

"Do tell," Sesshoumaru prompted.

"Basically it depends on how you want to take whatever it is you're going after and why." Inu-Yasha studied his drink. "If you just want something, you may want to be sly about getting it or just steal it in the night. No witness. If it's personal though, things can get tricky. There's politics behind thievery...funny...I don't know which one's worse." He downed the rest of the whiskey in one gulp. "Good stuff," he rasped. He waited until the burning sensations subsided and then asked his next question.

"It's not personal, is it? I don't like being in the middle of a feud."

"It's never personal," Sesshoumaru assured.

The younger man nodded once. "Good. So the main thing to worry about is how to take the sucker, blatantly or covertly?"

"As discreetly as possible, it would not do for _either_ of us to be connected with anything recently stolen. You CAN be discreet, can't you?"

Inu-Yasha was unsure if his brother was making a joke or not and settled for merely glaring at him.

Sesshoumaru returned the look without expression. His younger brother broke eye contact first and continued the conversation.

"Assuming this is just an in and out job, you'll need a driver. Even if it wasn't, you still need a driver. A getaway. Someone who's good, and fast, and can lose a bunch of cops without losing his head. And I've got just the man."

"Whom?"

"His name's Kouga. He was the driver for my last gig, he'll be perfect."

"And you know he's not in jail, how?"

"He split before the cops showed up. Probably crossed the border," Inu-Yasha mused. "Said he liked warmer climates."

"And how do we know he won't turn tail and run out on _us_?"

Inu-Yasha's eyes darkened. "Kouga's not a traitor," he insisted. "I told him to run."

"You told your only escape to leave you?" Sesshoumaru questioned doubtfully.

"I was already caught by then; there was no sense in him taking the fall too."

"There will be no self-sacrificing this time," Sesshoumaru asserted. "Everyone will stick together and leave together."

"I wasn't aware you were a supporter of the 'No Child Left Behind' Act," Inu-Yasha commented. "Really, all these moralistic values welling up in you are quite endearing. And kinda scary."

"I don't want any loose ends," Sesshoumaru snapped.

"You mean you don't want any loose lips," the younger man clarified with a grin.

"I can't be blamed," his brother contended.

Inu-Yasha shrugged. "I suppose not," he conceded as he set his glass down on the desk.

"Are there any other partners from your past that you care to nominate?" Sesshoumaru asked.

"No," Inu-Yasha answered quickly. "No-one else. Small groups are easier to work with; easier to reveal a traitor."

"There will be no traitors," Sesshoumaru announced with conviction. "To neither you nor I nor the rest of the team. I will not allow it."

Inu-Yasha allowed a moment for that to settle in his mind. That statement was as good as it got for Sesshoumaru's promise not to backstab him. It was a vague and subtle message, but it was the truth nonetheless and that was all that counted. Still, it wouldn't hurt to be a good deal wary about the whole thing. After all, going after the Shikon the first time had been done with a team. And jail wasn't at the top of his list of 'Places to Revisit Sometime Soon'.

"Tomorrow I will contact our future employees."

"Leave Kouga to me," Inu-Yasha requested. "I'll hunt him down."

Sesshoumaru nodded. "Very well." It became clear that he had no more to say on the matter as he cleared away the papers laying in front of him and turned to buzz the intercom on his desk.

Inu-Yasha, however, had something else to discuss and leaned on the large desk. "Hey, Sessh..."

Sesshoumaru paused in his actions and glanced at his half brother.

Inu-Yasha made a motion with his hand. "Between you and me—what's the motive? This heist is too elaborate for a museum piece."

The older brother stared expressionlessly at the younger for several moments before answering. "Naraku is my opponent in both business and antique collecting," he began. "He is intelligent enough for his own business, but both ignorant and careless of the 'bigger picture' so to speak."

"You're not gonna go all Disney on me with that 'Circle of Life' crap are you?" Inu-Yasha grumbled.

Sesshoumaru glared at him but continued. "Whether or not he realizes it, Naraku holds an incredibly amount of buying power with just the jewel alone. There have been no reports on the elemental structure of the Shikon no Tama, it's not carbon and coal, like a diamond and it's not gold. This leads me to believe that it's something else—perhaps something even more rare than either one of those. Half of my curiosity is just that. But if it is something as rare as I believe it is--and even if it isn't, it's unprecedented—coupled with the power of the media, the value of the jewel could skyrocket and the stock market could decline sharply."

Inu-Yasha quirked an eyebrow. "You're worried about your stocks and bonds?"

"I'm worried about my empire. I won't let such a risk just sit there when I can negate it. Naraku does not need to possess that item."

Jaken waddled in with a tray laden with tea and biscuits, making Inu-Yasha wonder if the disgusting little man simply waited at the door until he was called upon. It would fit his devotion.

"Jaken, prepare a guest room for Inu-Yasha, he will be staying here for a while."

Jaken barely concealed his look of contempt. "Yes, Master Sesshoumaru."

"I've **got** my own place," Inu-Yasha protested.

Sesshoumaru merely glanced at him a look that brooked no retaliation.

Any other objections died a swift and painful death as a huge and frisky black Retriever with a pink gingham bow on its head came bounding into the room. The dog ran right past Jaken, knocking him over then slowed to a trot towards Sesshoumaru. It plopped itself right in front of the gentleman and panted as its tail swept back and forth against the rug.

"Rin," Sesshoumaru chided.

The dog cocked its head and gave a quick whine and a bark before nudging its head under Sesshoumaru's hand for a pat. As he complied, Rin laid her head in his lap.

"That **can't** be _your_ dog," Inu-Yasha exclaimed. "You don't like animals. You couldn't even keep the goldfish Dad got you alive."

Sesshoumaru ignored the jibe. "This is Rin," he announced.

The Retriever ambled over to Inu-Yasha to greet him. After sniffing his hands and giving him a good lick, Rin repeated her request to him. Inu-Yasha needed no help from the dog and petted it with both hands enthusiastically. The dog loved him all the more.

"Girl?" he asked his brother.

"Yes."

"Show dog?"

"Rin's been in a few," Sesshoumaru admitted. "She tends to get over excited sometimes."

"You're a pretty dog," Inu-Yasha told Rin in a lower and rougher tone. "Yes you are, yes you are."

Rin barked happily.

* * *

**New York, New York**

Inu-Yasha had always loved the East Coast. It held the raw power that appealed to him—the forests of North Carolina, the mines of the Appalachians and the machinery of upper New England. He supposed that was why the Big Apple had been such a comfort to him; the inhabitants were unapologetically raw with emotion. They held a fierce love of their home, pride in their bloodlines and deep seated rivalry with any opposition.

L.A. was for his brother: polished and snooty. But New York? New York was _his._

Or it _had_ been before he had gotten caught, charged and shipped to the middle of fucking nowhere. That was the price of stealing from such a big name family. Idly, he wondered just how Kikyou and her family were doing.

The absolutely gorgeous day inspired him to take refuge in the dark of the subway. The station was no different than he remembered, poorly lit with flickering lights that made everyone look sallow and ill, and the platform was crowded. Though it hosted more tourists at this time than anything else. Ideal conditions for any petty thief. The visitors were told to keep a close eye on their things but they were usually too busy gawking at their surroundings to notice their pockets being picked.

Today, a visiting group of high schoolers were on the train with Inu-Yasha. They were probably unaccustomed to the subways as they took up most of the car with their refusal to sit as a single group and their insistence of personal space. Kids from New York would have known better. The students sat in fours and fives though some sat singly—like the kid in the corner with red sandy hair.

His aqua coloured eyes watched as the tunnel's wall whizzed past in a bored type of manner. The kid sat near an older man that wasn't part of the group; he wore an overcoat and a fedora. He was listening to a portable radio and engrossed in an open map of the subway lines.

The train followed the tracks around one of the sharper turns and riders swayed appropriately, some a little more so than others. It was obvious the kids had never ridden the railways before. The red head was so small he was pitched into the older man's lap. After blushing and apologizing profusely, the kid moved a few seats down, closer to the high school groups.

Inu-Yasha had watched the entire interaction and smirked in amusement. The kid was good. Not even the elderly gentleman gave any indication of knowing he was missing his traveler's cheques. He just went on reading his map. Inu-Yasha closed his eyes for the rest of the brief ride.

Two stops and ten minutes later, Inu-Yasha and the man with the fedora followed the kids off the train. The man stopped at a payphone while Inu-Yasha took the stairs to the street; he found the teens headed to the Broadway Theatre.

He watched as the redhead discreetly broke away from the group to cross the street.

"Hey, kid..."

'_Don't freak,_' Shippo mentally chanted. '_Nobody knows anything; nobody saw anything._' He pushed his sunglasses further up his nose and turned around to face the source of the voice. "Yeah?" he answered.

The man from the subway with long white hair was striding towards him in a carefree manner. He grinned and stuffed his hands in his pockets. "Nice trick you pulled in the subway. They teach that in school these days?"

"I have no clue what you're talking about," Shippo forced himself to reply in an even tone.

The man raised an eyebrow. "No?" He jerked his head in the direction he had come. "Poor guy's back at the platform on the phone trying to convince his wife his cheques were with him when he got on. He's near frantic. 'Heard him say their kid's expecting the money for this month's food and rent."

Shippo paled.

The man continued as if he hadn't noticed. "But if you're anything like your old man, you won't lose any sleep tonight." He paused. "I think he'd be proud."

His father--eleven months dead, had been one of the most respected Underground Lords of Chicago. His honour and fairness preceded him in all business transactions. And not only that, he was a gentleman in the public's eye and so giving of himself. What did this moron know?

"Shut-up!" Shippo snapped. "You don't know my father—he's none of your business! You don't know anything!"

The stranger raised a brow. "I know you stole that old man's traveler's cheques—I watched you on the train. You used the same technique that I was taught which mean you learned it from the same person that I did. And it's obvious enough Kinu Todd's your old man; you got his temper and half his looks, but I guess that's Saira's hair you got."

"Who **_are_** you?" Shippo asked.

"Just some old student of your dad's," the stranger replied. He procured a business card and handed it to Shippo.

Shippo looked down at the card as the man patted his shoulder. It was barely adorned with a thin gold border and a name in black script: Inu-Yasha.

"I'll be at the bar near Carnegie Deli in an hour and a half. You can let your old man know who called you out—he'll vouch for me. Meanwhile, I'll be returning these." The stranger held the traveler's cheques in his hand like a prize and grinned before blending into the crowd.

Shippo really wasn't all that surprised that Inu-Yasha had taken the cheques, or that he hadn't even felt the man at work. All the same, it smarted to be the one with the picked pocket and by some stranger no less. '_Bastard_,' he thought.

Inu-Yasha was at the bar just like he said he would be, munching on soft pretzel bits and mustard and washing that down with a Guinness Stout. Just the sight of him irritated Shippo, but he marched ahead to the table.

I just came here to tell you that my father is dead," Shippo announced as he slapped a copy of his father's obituary in front of Inu-Yasha.

The arrogance faded as the white haired man read the surviving family. The gleam in his eye wasn't there anymore when he looked up. "Kinu was a good man. I'm sorry I didn't know about this, or I would've sent flowers or something."

"I didn't tell you that because I wanted your pity," Shippo retorted angrily.

"How's your mom holding up?"

"Terribly."

The table lapsed into silence for several moments before Inu-Yasha spoke up. "Technically speaking, you're next in line to take his position. You gonna do it?"

At this, Shippo scowled. "I can't. These two guys: Hiten and Manten have taken over like the Mafia."

"You don't mean the Thunder brothers?" Inu-Yasha asked incredulously.

Shippo gave him a slant eyed glare. "You know them?"

"Yeah. Back in my day they were a couple o' arrogant punks from Detroit. They moved in when your dad started showing me the tricks of the trade. I got into a few fights with Hiten when we were younger. I can't believe someone let those idiots take the stage." He munched thoughtfully on some pretzels. "So what're ya gonn' do 'bout it?" he asked around a mouthful of food.

Shippo looked disgusted. "I can't **do** anything," he insisted as he cradled his chin in his hands.

"Then why are you here?"

"My mom thought you might be able to help," the boy admitted reluctantly. "She told me to come find you."

"I can't get rid of the Thunder brats for you," Inu-Yasha told him. "If I did, the title would be mine by rights—is that what you want?"

Shippo glared at him.

"Look, kid. I wish I could help, I really do. But I can't fight your battle and I got my own thing going on with my crew--"

"Then let me join you," Shippo requested.

'No' was on his lips, but a memory of his younger self swallowing his pride to ask the elder Todd nearly the exact same thing stopped it.

"Don't make me regret it."

* * *

"**Nowhere", Utah **

"And as you can see, Figure 23a is a list of "no-no" mixers." The words **DO NOT MIX THESE **were scrawled at the top of the chalkboard and followed by a list of periodic symbols. "We'll stop here for today, class," Dr. Miroku Priest announced as he put the chalk down. "We'll explore the reactions in lab this week." He turned around to face the class.

It was filled to capacity; though almost forty wasn't a large number, it was crowded in the small stadium seating classroom. Many of the student's bumped elbows as they noted the lesson they were given and Miroku could usually only walk the small pathway that measured the length of the room between the front wall and the display lab table. He'd wanted something bigger, at least one of the smaller lecture halls, to be able to hold more students when teaching. But he was the greenest staff member; despite being the only double teacher of the Chemistry and Physics department, and was given whatever was left from the unwanted classrooms.

The students scrambled to finish copying the notes from the lecture and leave the classroom. In the back, a brunette raised a question. "Several of us are going to New York for the week long Micro Econ field study. Can you give us a really quick idea about what goes on in lab?"

Miroku leaned on the display counter top that divided him from his students. "Well, what do you think the normal result would be from colliding any oxidizer with something like...sulfur, in a confined space? Anybody?"

The brunette scrunched up her nose in thought. "They go boom?"

Miroku nodded. "And **that**, ladies and gentlemen, is why I love science!" he said with conviction, banging on the countertop for emphasis. He smirked as the class laughed. "Yes, they _do_ go 'boom'. Students on the field trip can get the detailed notes from a classmate who comes to lab." He let the class think he was done talking and allowed them to crowd the doorway.

"Oh, and don't forget your papers are due Friday--this includes all of you planning to be absent-- and I expect rough drafts to be appearing on my desk between now and Thursday."

The class groaned as their professor just grinned.

"Have a nice day."

The mail was already stacked neatly on his desk when he got to his office. Daniel, his TA must have dropped by on his lunch break to deliver it and finish grading the Physics tests from last week. Really, the boy had no life. He probably came in and toyed around with the few possessions Miroku had on his desk before grading the papers slowly to draw out the time. He seemed to relish having to stay late with Miroku on occasions and always hung around the office during his free time. When the professor suggested that Daniel might have something better to do with his time, the boy just shook his head and insisted he held no engagements. Pondering over this, Miroku wondered for the _nth _time if his assistant had a crush on him.

Flattering as that might be, Miroku was not into that and did not, could not, _would not_ date students...ever again. That second semester of him teaching taught him quite a bit about the risks he was taking, and losing his job would be the least of his problems, he realized.

Of course, looking back on the situation, as he had many times, Miroku realized things were bound to happen when one became involved with the only daughter of a former Dean.

Miroku crossed the room and sifted through the mail: a quick note from his editor about his grant proposal sat on top of a chemistry lab equipment catalogue, the latest issue of _Physics Today_, an astronomy newsletter from a former student and a memo about a staff meeting next week. The catalogue would be fun to look through later, though _Physics Today_ and the astronomy newsletter would both have to be bedtime material. It would be best to get to work on his proposal; he only had three weeks left after all.

The professor set down his mail when he had noticed he had missed one piece. The envelope was business standard, but thick and cream coloured. His name and the school's address had been handwritten in precise, but flowing script; the back was closed with a wax seal. There was a first class stamp but no return address. Carefully, Miroku broke the seal and pulled out the sheet of paper. The words on the paper nearly had him go into cardiac arrest. Someone was very interested in his work and wanted to speak with him about funding. Enclosed was the ticket to fly out to...Miroku blinked hard to make sure he read the ticket right. Los Angeles, California was still the flight destination the second and third time of double checking. And if the dates were right, he needed to talk to the Headmaster about a leave of absence now...

**

* * *

**

**Seattle, Washington**

**Slayer Software Corp.**

The rows of numbers and symbols ran across the screen, reflected in intelligent and hopeful brown eyes. If all was right, getting past the firewalls and other security measures was going to be nearly impossible. The suspense was nearly killing her. "That's it," Sango announced as she stood up and stretched her back for the fifth time that afternoon. "I really AM leaving now. And I'm not coming back for another twenty-four hours."

Her co-worker Mark leaned his head around the cubicle and peered at her over his glasses. "Yeah right. You haven't stayed away from this project for twenty-four minutes since we've started."

"I can't help it," Sango insisted. "The challenge has got me excited; some of this program has never been used before. Maybe we can stop hackers with this one."

Mark rolled his eyes before his head disappeared from view again. "Doubtful," he answered. "The only way to stop those kinds of losers is jail for life with no possibility of internet access."

Sango couldn't help the smile that crossed her face. "Not all hackers are bad."

"White Hats are just hackers with a formal degree and the American right to overcharge for their services," Mark insisted.

Sango rolled her eyes as she gathered her things. Sometimes Mark's absolute cynicism was too much to bear. "I'm leaving now; don't have a crisis, I won't be here."

"See ya," Mark called out.

The train was seven minutes late and the ride was bumpier than usual, but such matters at this point were trivial.

Sango knew that her maniacal grin was probably frightening the other passengers, but she couldn't contain her excitement.

If this version was truly bug-free and they hit no other snags, then Hiraikotsu would be in production to hit the mass market in an unprecedented nine months! If it worked as well as they hoped, then there was a possibility that the program could be a requisite in all future computers! Just the prospect was thrilling! HER anti-hacking software would be a household name all over the country, maybe even the world. And though it wasn't the Law-enforcement career her father had hoped she would choose, Sango felt immense satisfaction in knowing she could stop the bad guys in her own way.

The data transfer disk weighed heavily in her bag and on her mind as she made short work of the three square blocks from the station to her apartment. She wanted to attack the system as hard as possible NOW, but knew she had to wait and clear her mind so she wasn't blind to any loopholes or mistakes. That would be her downfall.

Kirara, her rescued lab cat, was waiting at the door when Sango arrived. Her large red eyes stared at her mistress soulfully as her double tails swished back and forth patiently. Kirara mewed plaintively.

"Alright already," Sango laughed. "I'm home and here to submit to your every demand."

She debated whether she wanted food, a shower, or a nap first as she fed the cat. Food, she decided. At least a snack while she paid her whatever bills had come today, and then a shower after her nap.

There were no bills today when she checked the post, but an issue of _Physics Today_ and a postcard advertising an upcoming gun show accompanied a surprise letter from her father. The postcard and the magazine were tossed on the bed for later inspection in favour of reading the letter first.

Her father was doing well in their New Jersey home, though he was feeling his age more and more as he watched his son navigate the ins and outs of high school. Kohaku was pretty popular among the female students, despite being pegged as incredibly shy. Their father attributed the boy's popularity to his _inherited_ boyish charm (and Sango _still _thought it was his freckles).

The nap had been wonderful but odd. She reflected back on her dream as she did her yoga stretches. Hiraikotsu had been an actual large bone carved boomerang which she used to slay the demon-esque hackers.

Darkness greeted her as she stepped into The World Below, the local computer club. Dark became dim lighting as her eyes adjusted and the glow of thirty-some monitors became the focal point. The World Below was Sango's third love. The club had opened as a café that was accessible to the most promising nerds and amateur White Hats. Some came for the classes the staff taught; some came to practice or help. Sango came for all of it. Here, she recruited an unbiased opinion and possible tips on how to fix her mistakes.

"Hey, Sango," a young man with red hair greeted in a low voice.

"Hi, David. Busy night?"

"Steady," he agreed. "We got two designers working on a new game on Five and Six, there's a lot of call and response tonight and speaking of..." He motioned her to join him on the useful side of the monitoring station he had been sitting at. "We got a flagger."

The main monitor at the station had the ability to receive any and all data input or viewed on any of the other computers in the room at any given time. Computer Thirty-Two's screen was brought up for viewing. Numbers and several commands were rapidly filling up the screen.

"Are those...?" Sango trailed off, not quite sure what she was seeing.

"Yeah," David confirmed. "Little bugger's been in here all afternoon trying to get past the parental monitors so he can look at porn. I felt bad for him, so I gave him a bunch of old DnD cheat codes."

At this, Sango snorted. "You're horrible."

"How's work coming?"

"I'm _so close_," she gushed. "Maybe one or two more runs. Wanna check it for me?" She pulled out the disk.

"Sure. I'll set up on Nineteen. You watch hacker boy."

Sango settled herself in David's vacant seat and pulled out a Tom Clancy novel. He was right about the amount of people they trafficked, but there was no real need for help or much input from the monitors this evening. After a few pages, she decided to check her e-mail.

The screen popped up instantly and Sango entered her information. There were a few emails in her inbox, two jokes from David, one from a coworker about the system check she was scheduled for next week and one from an unfamiliar address. It didn't seem to be a virus and it wasn't spam.

_Miss Kandra:_

_I have become very interested in your line of work as of late. I am to understand that I could greatly benefit from your expertise in networking and firewalls. It would please me greatly if_

_you meet me to further discuss your portfolio and a job opportunity. I have included the url address of the confirmation flight page at the bottom. If these dates do not suit your schedule, please let me know which dates would. My information is in the tagline._

Someone was interested in her work? A possible job opportunity in California sounded too good to be true, and those things usually were, but there was too much elaboration for this to be a joke. And anyone willing to spend the money to fly her out to L.A. and put her up in a suite obviously deserved a chance before she reported them to the Better Business Bureau for fraudulent claims. She printed out the confirmation page and reread the e-mail. Two days wasn't a lot of time to notify the proper people, but she was overdue for a personal holiday anyways.

* * *

**Chihuahua, Mexico**

The radio warbled in Spanish and the cab shuddered with every bump in the road it hit. Inu-Yasha thought about the extra dry martini he'd had on the flight from New York to El Paso and the olive he'd regretfully left in the glass. What he wouldn't give for another one now...

New York had turned out to be predictably disappointing. Kouga had disappeared and no one had seen or heard from him in a few years. The landlady of his apartment said he was in a hurry to leave and was on his cell, speaking hurriedly in Spanish. He contacted a few people to scour the border side of Mexico for information and that had led him to this run down little place. No one in the neighbourhood had running water and most of the electricity was pirated, but a few of the local knew of the señor that matched Kouga's description and pointed him in the direction of Kouga's second love—a racetrack.

The race track was no more than compacted dirt. Wood and barbed wire pretended they were strong enough to keep the crowd from the track proper, or vice versa. Chicken wire had been set up in the centre of the oval to contain actual chickens. The whole thing was run down and dusty and just screamed third world country.

The driver was paid in cash and offered a short 'gracias' in return when they parked. The crowded was settling in and it looked as if the race was about to start, so Inu-Yasha picked a place on the fence to rest his forearms on and watch the show.

A gunshot rang out, startling the chickens as the junkiest and rustiest group of cars took off around the track. The track wasn't equally made and there wasn't room for of the cars to run together at either turn so it made the race even more interesting to a certain degree. After the first six laps it became apparent who the better drivers were as the select began to break away from the pack; pouring on the speed and hugging the turns. This continued until there were only three cars really worth watching. The first and second cars appeared to be close side by side, blocking the third car from passing either of them. The driver of the third car wasn't pleased with that and began tapping their back bumpers.

Horns honked from the first two cars in response, agitating the chickens further. Both of the first two cars would take turns speeding up and slowing down almost to a halt only to speed up again in an effort to slow down the third car, but neither let it by. As the trio reached the turn of the nineteenth lap, the third car gave a not-so-gentle nudge to the right back corner of the outside car. The driver of said outside car yelled in Spanish as he unintentionally crowded the inside car. Both of the first cars crashed into the chicken pen.

Feathers flying.

Horns blaring.

Enraged cursing in Spanish.

Generally harassed poultry.

Ignoring all of that, the third car floored it and zoomed across the finish line.

Inu-Yasha glanced around to observe the mixed reactions of the 'crowd', some thirty-odd Mexicans. Some of them were pleased, most were pissed. All of them excited and loud. The silver haired man tugged the wrinkles out of his suit as he ambled along to congratulate the victor. Maybe he could give him a good scare while he was at it.

He found the driver and the track owner in the shade of the lean to that posed as an office and an entrance gate. The driver was covered in dust and sweat and his usual long dark ponytail was pulled up in a floppy Japanese knot, easy to wear a helmet over. He was in desperate need of a good shave. But he was grinning like a madman as the owner grudgingly counted out the prize money into his hand.

"Do they know you're not an amateur?" Inu-Yasha called by way of greeting. He grinned at the driver's stunned expression.

"You're out," was all the driver could manage.

"You're a bastard to find in a foreign country, Kouga," Inu-Yasha went on. "I don't speak Spanish, but I think I almost agreed to marry this really old broad if she told me where to find this place. Ugly too."

"Fuck, man, you're really out!" Kouga repeated excitedly. "When?"

"Just a few days ago," Inu-Yasha admitted. "'Promised my parole officer I wouldn't leave the state."

"Everything's good? You're not in trouble already?"

"No, but there's just one thing I've got to get off my chest," Inu-Yasha admitted.

"Eh?" Kouga prompted.

The silver haired young man smiled maliciously as he sent his fist into his companion's mid-section.

Kouga let out a whoosh of air and bent over double. After a second or two he managed to nod slightly and spit in the dirt. "I guess I deserved that," he groaned.

"No," Inu-Yasha corrected. His next punch had Kouga reeling back and covering his eye.

"Fuck!" the younger man cried.

"THAT you deserved," Inu-Yasha concluded. He placed a friendly hand on his companion's shoulder. "C'mon, let's go get a drink."


	3. Chapter 3

**DISCLAIMER:** Silly otaku! Lawsuits are for REAL! And sadly, Inu-Yasha is not mine.

**A/N:** Eight years between postings—that has to be some kind of record. There is a typo in Sesshoumaru's email to Sango in the last chapter. For the record, her last name is **Kanda** (without the 'r'). I hope you enjoy this next installment.

* * *

"_Do they know you're not an amateur?" Inu-Yasha called by way of greeting. He grinned at the driver's stunned expression._

"_You're out," was all the driver could manage….._

* * *

**Chihuahua, Mexico**

"The hell brings you to Chihuahua?" Kouga asked as he idly checked his icepack for blood or any other body fluids. As neither appeared to be on the pack, he returned it to his swollen eye.

They'd walked into some hole-in-the-ground bar Kouga claimed to frequent. The waitress who greeted them took one look at Kouga's face, then to his companion's red knuckles before going off on Inu-Yasha in enraged Spanish before Kouga stepped in and explained the situation. At least, that's what he told Inu-Yasha, who understood as much of the country's language as he spoke. The waitress had given him the evil eye but directed them to a table and disappeared to the kitchen. She returned with an icepack for Kouga's eye, two clean glasses and a pitcher of Corona, still giving Inu-Yasha dirty looks before leaving them alone.

"Business, actually," Inu-Yasha admitted as he poured the cerveza first for himself and then the other man.

"Yeah?" Kouga accepted the offered glass of beer. "What kind?"

"Recruitment from L.A. Lookin' to put together a team for a job State-side. There's no Medicare, but the benefits are good and pay off's great."

Kouga rolled his eyes. "That has got to be the shittiest shpeal I've ever heard. The fuck d'you come up with that?" he took a swig of his beer.

Inu-Yasha shrugged and took a drink from his own glass. "Just before landing. I was too busy trying to block out the sound of some new mile-high members from the first class cans to think."

The other man laughed into his beer. "Fuck, I'd give anything to've seen your face then. Who's workin' with ya?"

"You 'member Sessh, my half-brother?" Inu-Yasha laughed. He pulled out a cigarette from the pack in his jacket pocket and fished around for his lighter.

Kouga's good eyebrow went up in surprise. "No shit? _'That asshole in L.A.'_? Don't you two hate each other?"

"Turns out we've got a few things in common..." Having secured his lighter, Inu-Yasha lit up and took a deep drag.

Kouga's expression turned to one of interest. "Oh yeah?"

"We're both lookin' for you." Inu-Yasha ignored Kouga's frozen expression as he clinked their glasses together. "Cheers." He chugged half his glass. He frowned at Kouga's still full glass. "You're not drinkin' yours..."

The icepack once more came away from Kouga's eye as he studied his companion carefully. "What's your brother want with me?"

Inu-Yasha waved him off with the cloud of smoke he just exhaled. "Nah, don't worry. He only wants you 'cause I do." He set his own glass down at Kouga's disquieted shifting and leaned across the table. "Look…New York was a fucked up job. I should've never let it get personal, but I did. And I paid for it with my ass." He ignored Kouga's grimace at the bad pun. "But all of that, fucked or not—that was just a prequel…."

"Prequel!?" the dark haired driver repeated incredulously.

Inu-Yasha grinned. "Yeah."

Kouga stared at him. "Fuck... don't tell me you talked him into chasing after that damn fairy tale, too."

"With my charm? How could he resist?" Inu-Yasha bragged.

Kouga shook his head and chuckled. "Figures you'd convince him to work with you. Alright, I'm in. I gotta meet this asshole anyways." He raised his glass.

"Hell yeah!" Inu-Yasha cheered as he toasted with the other man before they both took a drink.

* * *

_** The Next Day:**_ **Los Angeles, California**

Sango Kanda wondered for the fiftieth time that day if accepting the invitation to meet someone she'd never heard of before for a possible job some 1200 miles from home was a good idea, even as she rolled along the West Coast in the escort car. There was always a chance that the whole thing was a scam and she was being kidnapped, whisked away to a secret location; never to be heard from again. Of course, the whole set up was all very elabourate for a kidnapping, but still... it could happen. Sango tightened her grip on the handle of her miniature case, reassuring herself that she would be okay even if it did come to that.

Packing had been difficult enough and the cost of shipping it with her had been a nightmare, but it had all been worth it to have her Czech .75 with her. The comfort that it brought was priceless. Besides, it was better to be paranoid than dead.

She was broken from her thoughts as the escort car stopped at a pair of tall iron gates and the driver leaned out to punch a code in a keypad by the entrance. The gates slowly opened and the car proceeded ahead. Sango could only stare as the winding drive led them towards a gorgeous mansion at the top of a hill. She was in awe as they pulled up in front of the fountain.

Okay, so maybe this wasn't a kidnapping...

The driver got out and opened her door for her before she even had a chance to touch the handle. He assisted her out of the vehicle with a smile and went to the trunk to unload her luggage while she gazed up at the mansion.

It was a beautiful fortress with Tudor windows. The design was simple and clean, attracting the eye to the house's greatest feature: the large oak door.

There was an ugly little greenish man who stood so still next to the front door, that Sango initially mistook him for someone's twisted idea of a garden gnome. But, then he blinked, breaking the façade, and turned his bulging eyes on her.

_'Oh, God...'_

"Miss Kanda?" he inquired in a voice that made Sango flinch in repulsion. He took her action as confirmation. "Master Sesshoumaru extends his welcome. Your bags will be taken to your room. Follow me." He turned and led the way into the house.

Sango clutched the handle of her case tighter and gawked at the narthex they passed through. It was large and dark, fitting of a castle, which described the house perfectly. The stone-floored narthex gave way to the hardwood floor hall and they made a sharp left. A pair of cream double doors greeted them at the end of the hall.

The little man opened one and stepped aside to allow Sango entrance. "Master Sesshoumaru will be here soon." After saying this, he closed the door behind him.

Sango turned around to study room.

The parlor was beautiful. The walls were painted a soft butternut; accentuated with white trim and baseboards. The Victorian furniture matched perfectly and sat on the hardwood floor that had followed in from the hall. The back wall was nothing but floor to ceiling windows with a pair of French doors that afforded a view of a patio and a well manicure lawn just beyond.

A light musical concerto came to the forefront of her senses and for the first time, Sango realized she was not alone in the room. A man sat at a black baby grand on a white shag rug and coaxed the keys in a beautiful peace.

He was handsome. He had a round face but a firm chin and a nose that barely turned upward. His small mouth displayed a gentle smile as he finished the piece and launched into a new one. One violet eye opened to regard her and the other followed suit. "Hello," he greeted, not ceasing from his playing.

"You play beautifully," Sango told him.

"The result of my mother's nazi-ish practice regimen for twelve years," the man admitted with a smile. He finished the piece with flourish then sat with his hands in his lap. "It's been a little more than a decade now and I still can't help but hear her voice in my head anytime I'm around a piano." He gazed at the piano solemnly, and then looked back up at Sango. "So, may I be so bold as to inquire your name?"

* * *

**Meanwhile**

"Here we are," Inu-Yasha announced as the car made its way up the drive. "Welcome to the house on the fucking hill."

A low whistle came from Kouga. "What's he in again?"

Inu-Yasha shrugged indifferently and selected a miniature bottle of rum from the car's minibar. "Hell if I know—never cared enough to ask."

The car came to a stop in front of the entrance and the two men stepped out. Inu-Yasha led the way and opened the door to let themselves in.

"Yo, Sessh!" Inu-Yasha's voice rang out in the narthex.

"Master Sesshoumaru is busy at the moment," Jaken's irritated voice greeted. "You can wait with his guests in the parlor." He had come from the kitchen wearing a decidedly_ lacey_ butler's apron and holding a tea tray. He glared at the young men, daring them to comment.

Kouga open his mouth but found himself rendered speechless by the sight. He was reminded by Inu-Yasha to shut his trap before they followed the diminutive man to the parlor.

* * *

Sango looked up when the door opened again.

The same creepy little man had come back, carrying tea things and leading a pair of guys into the room.

The first one caught her eye with his exotic looks; snowy coloured hip length hair and bright golden eyes. Sango had never seen anyone like before and wondered how much he paid to have his hair done. He was wiry with a long torso and narrow hips. He glanced around the room in a bored manner, and then flopped heavily onto the Victorian couch, not giving much thought about the furniture.

The second man was almost a complete opposite to the other. His long ebony hair that was tied back in a high ponytail that went past his shoulder blades. He was taller, slightly broader and darker than the first. With his colouring, Sango guessed Native American. However, she could not remember anyone from any heritage possessing eyes almost the shade of teal, though the more interesting aspect of his eyes was the shiner he sported.

"Master Sesshoumaru should be with you soon," the little man croaked as he set down the tea, all the while glaring at the white haired young man, who had his feet up on the table. He left them alone after that, the doors clicking closed behind him.

"Oh, lovely. Tea," Miroku pronounced, rubbing his hands together. He rose from the piano and made his way to the table holding the refreshments. He poured the tea with a certain grace that transferred from his playing ability and handed Sango the first cup with a warm smile.

Blinking, she accepted and reached for the sugar, listening with an interested ear as conversation circled around introductions.

"Inu-Yasha," the white haired man answered at Miroku's question and turned his head, declining the proffered cup. Beside him, the other man also demurred.

"So, what do you do for a living, Inu-Yasha?" Miroku asked politely as he took the drink for himself.

Inu-Yasha smirked. "Actually, I just got outta jail," he confessed. He eyed the tea tray then reached for an empty cup.

Sango, who had paused in her refreshment, regarded the man carefully. He was currently pulling out a miniature bottle of rum from his jacket pocket and pouring it in his cup. "Why were you_** in**_ jail?" she asked slowly.

"I stole things," he announced breezily as he poured only a little tea in his cup as well. With a tiny silver spoon, he stirred his mixture and blew the steam away before taking a tentative sip. "'S not bad," he informed his companion.

Kouga shook his head.

The double doors opened again to reveal a tall and imposing gentleman, who was also sporting unnaturally light coloured hair. "Good afternoon," he greeted them. "It's good that you were all able to join name is Sesshoumaru."

Here, Inu-Yasha hopped up. "Before we get to the break down, lemme talk to you for a sec," he requested of the older man, draining his cup

The brothers disappeared into the hallway, closing the doors behind them.

The parlor fell into an awkward silence for a moment, before Miroku broke the quiet. "So, what's your name?" he asked the other man.

"Kouga," he responded. "Stock car racer."

* * *

"What is this about?" Sesshoumaru asked as soon as they shut themselves into the hall.

Inu-Yasha stuffed his hands in his pockets. "I ran into Kinu's kid in New York," he said.

"Kinu Todd, our father's old friend?"

"Yeah."

"I assume you aren't mentioning this as an incidental social hello."

The younger man sighed. "Look, I owe 'im, okay?"

"We agreed that this wasn't going to be personal," Sesshoumaru reminded him.

"It's not," the younger man returned evenly. "I'm not going to let him fuck this up."

Sesshoumaru stared at him quietly for a long moment. Finally he replied. "See that he doesn't. I'm holding you responsible for his actions."

"Fine," Inu-Yasha answered. Without waiting for a response from his half brother, he turned to rejoin the group in the parlor.

Left alone in the hall, Sesshoumaru allowed himself a rare eyeroll at his sibling's childish attitude and followed his brother's path. He watched as his brother drained his teacup and set his mouth in a thin line at the smell of alcohol wafting to him. "We shall convene in the den," he told the small group and led the way across the hall.

The den was decorated tastefully, just like every other room. A mountain stone fireplace and a large window took up one wall by themselves. Three corners had dark overstuffed chairs; two more chairs and large ottomans sat in front of the fireplace. A wardrobe sized media center stood against another wall, close to a handsome valet cart. One wall boasted delicate gazelle antlers. In the middle of the room sat a large oak table and chairs set, circular in shape.

It was here Sesshoumaru sat; Inu-Yasha sitting opposite him. Kouga, Miroku and Sango followed suit.

"I trust you've all had ample opportunity to make introductions," Sesshoumaru began. At the murmurs of agreement, he continued. "And undoubtedly, you are wondering why I have taken the time and consideration to arrange for you to meet me here."

At the other side of the table, Inu-Yasha crossed his arms and smirked.

"I have a job that requires certain…skills. Each of you possesses a certain superiority in your field and I am interested in having you become a part of my team."

"I'm sure we're all honoured that you would consider the best in our fields of work," Miroku spoke, looking around the table for support. "But, what job could possibly need a college professor, a software programmer, a stockcar racer and…. an ex-convict on a team together? No offense…" Here, the professor addressed Inu-Yasha.

Inu-Yasha waved him off with a shrug.

"You misunderstand me, Dr. Priest. I wasn't referring to your career professions." Sesshoumaru corrected him. "I have a need for a demolitions expert, a computer hacker, and a precision getaway driver."

Sango paled. "_What?_" she whispered horrified. "What on earth-"

Sesshoumaru nodded in his brother's direction. "You would be supporting a rather successful jewel thief in liberating an item."

Sango stood up abruptly, with enough force to push her chair back, and slammed both hands on the table. "You want us to STEAL?!" she cried in outrage. "What kind of crazy person are you?"

The stoic man merely raised an eyebrow. "One who will use any means necessary to achieve a goal." His eyes flicked to the silver case she had resting beside her chair. "Though not so paranoid as to bring a weapon to a business meeting. You are of course, aware that California does not recognize concealed carry permits from any other state?"

Sango became red, glaring at her opponent, but retook her seat.

Inu-Yasha rolled his eyes. Great. "Look, before my brother alienates anyone else—it's just a fuckin' job opportunity with a good payout. We want an item. You do what you do to help me get my hands on it and you get paid. We all go on with our lives, and ignore the fact that _he_'s just socially unequipped to deal with humanity," he explained, inclining his head towards Sesshoumaru. "Nothing personal."

It was quiet for a minute before Miroku spoke up. "In and out?"

Shocked, Sango whipped her head around to stare at him.

Inu-Yasha gave a gesture halfway between a nod and a shrug. "Yeah. Mostly."

The professor leaned forward, linking his fingers together on the table. "How_ much_ money?"

* * *

_**The Next Day**_

It was in the name of research that Sango and Miroku made their way to the Los Angeles public library the next morning.

"I don't see why we're down here," Sango insisted. "It's just some stupid marble."

"Really, aren't you even the littlest bit interested?" Miroku inquired.

"No," Sango insisted. "I'm basically being blackmailed into doing this job and I don't want any more trouble. The less I know about this thing, the better." Once Sesshoumaru had told them the amount of money they'd be getting out of the job, the professor's smile had brightened immediately, only dimming when the target was revealed as the Shikon no Tama of all things. Still, he'd agreed quickly and then that left Sango. Another pointed glance to her guncase, and a causal remark about some of the grey-hat wearing she'd done in the past and there wasn't much she could do to say 'no' to the mogul and his klepto brother. At this point she just wanted to get through this and go home.

Miroku stopped her in mid-stride with a hand on her shoulder. "You're right," he agreed. "This isn't the best situation for you. But, I believe knowledge is power. Who knows what we might find that might turn your plight for the better? Besides, I doubt you're pleased about remaining at the house during this venture." He offered a small smile. "A change of local is just what this Doctor ordered."

She snorted, but tilted her head as she regarded him seriously. "Why are you being so nice to me?"

His expression turned wry. "I wasn't aware that I needed a deeper purpose to be," he replied, noting with amusement her look of chagrin. "But if you are looking for a reason, I suppose, then because you and I are now partners, I suppose, in a way. At least, part of a team. Besides, my mother would surely disapprove of me allowing a lady to remain in distress if I could help it." He returned Sango's smile tilt of the lips in return and held open the library door for her and was rewarded with a good view of her backside as she entered.

They made their way to the front desk and Miroku turned his charm on the young woman at the front desk.

"We hate to trouble you, Miss, but could you direct us to the Natural Sciences section?" he asked with a winning smile.

The young woman hardly glanced up, and then did a double take at Miroku. She blushed. "Uhhh, yeah…Kagome can help you find your way," she offered. She looked past the duo in front of her and called for a girl behind them, and returned Miroku's gaze shyly.

Kagome was looked every bit the part of a library volunteer. She was a petite thing with pale skin and raven hair pulled up in a messy bun. She wore stylish square glasses and a dark button down sweater over her clothes. "How can I help you?" she greeted with a smile.

"Natural Sciences," Sango requested, tossing an odd look her companion's way, though he seemed too preoccupied with the desk girl to notice. He'd gone from caring to schmoozing in an alarmingly short time and she wondered if she'd just been had by his smooth lines outside.

The girl-Kagome nodded. "This way."

Sango grabbed Miroku by the arm and followed their guide.

Kagome led them through shelves to the Natural Sciences section. "Here it is," she announced. "Is there anything else I can help you with?"

Miroku, having since gotten over the girl at the desk, beamed and Sango figured he was a little ADD or a complete player. "You've been most helpful, my dear. If we should require your services again, where can we find you?"

Behind him Sango rolled her eyes and began perusing the titles.

Kagome pinked. "I'll uhhh…be reshelving," she informed them faintly, pointing in the direction from which they had just came.

Miroku took her hand and brushed it with his lips. "Until then…." he told the blushing girl.

"Okay, first of all? She has to be like, **half** your age," Sango chided the moment Kagome left.

"I am merely expressing my gratitude," the professor insisted as he joined Sango in her search.

Sango stopped looking for a moment and stared at her companion. "She walked us to the Natural Sciences section and you make it sound like she's some sort of _entertainment girl_!"

Miroku did not reply, but selected a number of tomes and handed them to Sango. "You can start with these, they look the most promising."

"Me?" Sango cried.

"I'm going to run a periodical index search for some geology articles," he continued as if she had said nothing. "Why don't we meet up in about forty-five minutes?" He gave her a pat on the shoulder and disappeared in the direction Kagome had gone.

Sango stared at his retreating back in disbelief. It figured he was a flirt. Sighing, she sat down at a nearby table and began going through books. "_Skirt chaser_," she muttered.

* * *

One Doctor Miroku Priest was becoming increasingly irritated. After spending the last half-hour pouring over _National Geographic_ and the library's impressive comprehensive periodical index, he'd found a grand total of nothing. He sighed heavily and ran a frustrated hand through his hair.

"Any luck?"

Miroku looked up to see their pretty volunteer standing a few feet away with a fresh cart of books to return.

Annoyance and mental exhaustion cast a tired look on his features and he gave a wan smile. "Actually, no," he admitted his lack of ability to find even a hint of his subject matter. "I was just about to hit the card catalogue."

"Is there anything I can do to help?" Kagome asked hesitantly.

"At this point, **anything** you can find would be a vast improvement," the professor insisted genuinely.

The young woman nodded and led him to the bank of computers that hosted the e-card catalogue system. "Rocks or gems?" she quizzed, ready to type.

Miroku smirked. "You noticed."

Kagome shrugged it off. "It is a popular and common subject," she said.

Fair enough. "A gem. The Shikon no Tama?"

Kagome froze and slowly turned her head to assess the man behind her for a long moment before quirking her lips. "Follow me."

She led them through the stacks only to slow as they reached the children's section of the library. "The library only has one book on that subject," the raven haired girl revealed as she pulled a slim book from one of the shelves and placed it in his hands.

"_The Legend of the Jewel of the Four Souls__?_"

The young woman's lips twitched as she fought to suppress her smile. "You were looking in the wrong section," she explained gently. She glanced back at the book. "Personally, I think it should be shelved in Fiction. It's an old and very obscure Shinto legend," she elabourated at Miroku's sharp look and gave a little smirk. "My grandfather used to tell my brother and I this legend when we were young children." She eyed the thin hardback with amusement. "I'm surprised this book even managed to get published."

"So, the Shikon no Tama…."

"…is just a very good bedtime story," Kagome finished the thought in an apologetic tone. "I don't know if that helps, but hopefully it'll clear some things up for you."

Dr. Priest stroked the cover of the book thoughtfully. "I think, my dear, this will be, as you have been: extremely informative." He gave her a real smile then, and was delighted to see her blush and return his gesture with one of her own.

"Good. Now maybe you can go rescue your friend from wasting her time…."

"Hmm? Oh! Yes!" Miroku was brought back to himself at the slight tease and grabbed the young woman's hand to place another kiss on her knuckles. "A thousand thanks, my dear. You are truly an asset to this great establishment."

Kagome reddened further, but pulled her hand away from his lips. "H-have a good day, Sir."

* * *

"So there's nothing else in the library's system," Sango announced two minutes after the stated meeting time, as she plopped a neat stack of papers on the table in front of Miroku. "And the only book is…." she trailed off as she realized her partner was more interested in flipping through what appeared to be a children's book, than her search results. After half a moment of silence, an expression of annoyance etched across her face and she cleared her throat pointedly.

"Hmmm? Yes?" Miroku answered distractedly. He lifted his head first, before actually tearing his eyes away from the pages to focus on the woman in front of him. "Go on," he encouraged, softly. "I believe you were about to say that the only book in the entire library is actually in the Children's Fiction section." At that he closed the book and turned it to show her the cover with a smile.

Sango narrowed her eyes once she read the title, but finally sat down. "I was _also_ going to say, that I did some extra digging online, thankyouverymuch, and I found _some_ places of interest." She shoved her paper stack towards him. "They aren't much, and I'm not sure if they're helpful for what we actually are looking for. It's mostly conspiracy sites and such."

Her partner glanced at the papers before swapping the book for them. Sango accepted the trade and the two fell into their reading.

* * *

Kagome considered herself to be a normal girl….well, as normal as you could get in her situation. At 21, she still resided with her mother, her younger brother Souta and her crazy grandfather in one of the last dedicated Shinto shrines in the Asian district of San Francisco, when she wasn't attending college here in Los Angeles. She was getting her degree in Mythology to appease her grandfather, who seemed to take it personally that Kagome would not be the shrine's miko. Personally, Kagome thought the whole idea of priestesses with magical powers was silly. Though Jii-chan insisted that their family had a strong line of powerful mikos, Kagome had never had seen any proof that such people existed, and she certainly did not have a spark of whatever it was the women in her lineage were purported to carry.

Still, she felt more than slightly guilty when that man's face had dropped when she delivered the disappointing news. Whether or not she actually believed in the religion, she was in fact the resident expert and that alone bestowed the duty of being unbiased for anyone who wanted to research it for any reason. She was on the verge of hunting down her researcher down as she cobbled together a rough apology for letting her own feelings colour her answer when said man—and the pretty woman with him came to her.

Kagome offered a small smile. "Did the book help?" she asked as they approached.

The gentleman nodded. "Immensely," he insisted with a satisfied smile. "You couldn't be more helpful."

Thrown off track by the lavish praise, Kagome merely nodded and let them walk away. It seemed her worries were for naught.

Once the pair approached the desk, Miroku procured a plastic card with a small id photo and his driving license, which he presented to an elderly clerk who raised her eyebrows.

"We don't see many of these," she told them in an impressed tone. She slid Miroku a small form to fill out.

"What is it?" Sango asked, craning her neck to see the cards.

"A Smithsonian National Library card," Miroku explained. "Any library linked in the Smithsonian web accepts this card when you're visiting from out of town. All I have to do is fill in a temporary residence address form and they let me check out any of these lovely books." Real pleasure laced his tone as he handed the completed form to the clerk.

"They're not cheap," the woman warned Sango.

"But worth every single cent," Dr. Priest exclaimed with a smile as the book was handed back to him with both cards. He turned and gave a conspiratal wink. "Very handy for research."

Sango felt herself beginning to smile in return. It was obvious, the man before her took actual interest in learning and knowledge in a way one didn't find in the public anymore. She'd long been a believer that smart was sexy and it was slightly gratifying to have such an obvious display before her.

The low chuckle had both of them returning their attention to the woman behind the desk. "Did Kagome help you find this book?"

Miroku tilted his head. "Yes, actually, she was tremendously helpful."

The clerk smiled and scanned the book and printed out a book receipt.

"Why?" Sango asked, immediately suspicious.

"It's her grandfather that wrote it," the older woman explained with a grin as she handed the items to the professor. "Have a nice day." She missed the wide-eyed look the couple before her gave each other and continued her work.

It was a slightly more excitable couple that rushed back to Kagome and her cart. Concern took over her features as the pair she had just helped returned at a clipped pace. "Is everything alright?"

"Yes," the gentleman puffed. He held up the children's book. "I—we were just wondering…"

"Did your grandfather write that book?" Sango cut in. She ignored the man's reproachful clearing of the throat and focused on the young woman before them instead.

"He did," Kagome answered slowly.

"But you don't believe the story is true," Miroku added.

"No," Kagome assured him. "Like I said, it's a good bedtime story for children, but that's about it."

"What about that jewel they found called the Shikon no Tama?"

Kagome gave them an amused smile and settled her arms fully on the cart. "My grandfather has been telling me that particular legend for as long as I can remember. If I'm not mistaken, I think they've only found this new gemstone about half a decade ago." She nodded to the book in question. "Did you read through it?"

Both Sango and Miroku nodded.

Kagome did too in reply. "Then you know that it supposedly had the power to grant a wish. After all this time, do you really think no one's tried to make one?" She shrugged. "I'm guessing that when they found this new stone, they just named it after the fable for fun. There's no real power in that jewel."

Miroku beamed. "I have a colleague who I think would be most interested in speaking with you."

"I'm here most mornings," Kagome told them. "I have class in the afternoons, but I usually have break around eleven thirty or so."

Dr. Priest pulled a business card out of his wallet and handed it to the young woman. "Thank you again, so much!" He grabbed the hand that had reached for his card and kissed her fingers once more.

Kagome turned bright red. "It's…really no trouble…."

The pair turned and headed out the door.

"Flirt…" Sango muttered.

* * *

_**Please Review.**_


End file.
